Body Found in Burned Albertville Home, Not Identified

ALBERTVILLE, Ala. (WHNT)– What started as a domestic dispute call ended with a deadly fire.

Albertville Assistant Police Chief Jamie Smith says the home on Northridge Trce in Albertville is the Higdon residence.

It all started at one o’clock Saturday afternoon when Albertville officers responded to the home. “When officers responded on scene the first responding officers saw a male subject with a long gun and they did see him discharge the weapon,” Assistant Chief Smith says.

Assistant Chief Smith says the man, who hasn’t been officially identified as of Saturday evening, went in the home, and that’s when the fire started from somewhere inside. “Fire department responded to the scene but they were unable to approach the scene because of the danger of a man with a gun.”

Officers weren’t sure if the man had stayed inside or left the area. “We had conflicting reports, when he had gone back inside the house we lost visual contact with him so at that point we didn’t know and we were just trying to take every precaution we could to keep everyone safe,” Assistant Chief Smith says.

Most law enforcement agencies in Marshall County and the Sheriff’s Office helicopter helped to try to locate the man.

After a search that lasted for hours officers tell us they had reason to believe the man was in the home. They also believe he was the one who started the fire that burned the home to the ground. “A body was found inside the house and we believe it to be the person responsible,” Assistant Chief Smith says.

He says an autopsy has to be done to positively identify the body, but they tell WHNT News 19 they believe it is the man they had been looking for.